Invest
How many jobs did JobKeeper save?
The JobKeeper legislation has potentially saved hundreds of thousands of Australian jobs, the central bank has revealed.
How many jobs did JobKeeper save?
The JobKeeper legislation has potentially saved hundreds of thousands of Australian jobs, the central bank has revealed.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has released a report into the JobKeeper legislation, revealing it could have saved 700,000 jobs, albeit with the potential bias of sampling based on casual employees.
In its first six months, the RBA also said JobKeeper supported around 3.5 million workers in more than 900,000 businesses, and undoubtedly played a crucial role in cushioning the decline in employment and incomes over the first half of 2020.
The central bank’s report found that one in five workers would have lost their jobs if they were not supported by the $1,500 a fortnight subsidy in the first four months of the pandemic.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg first introduced JobKeeper in April, and it was available to businesses impacted by virus lockdown measures.
The policy allowed businesses to retain staff and subsidise wages for part-time and full-time employees.
The study estimated that without JobKeeper, employment would have fallen by twice as much as it did.
However, the RBA made it clear that the study looked into how JobKeeper supported employment in the first few months of the program and doesn’t consider the effects from August 2020 onwards.
The authors of the RBA study, James Bishop and Iris Day, said policymakers should not assume that the short-term effects of the scheme will necessarily persist.
“The international evidence suggests that wage subsidies, if kept in place for too long, can have adverse effects on incentives and get in the way of necessary labour force reallocation,” they said.
“In addition to keeping existing employment relationships intact, another key objective of JobKeeper was to provide income support to business owners and their workers. We do not look at this important aspect.”
Mr Bishop and Ms Day also noted several assumptions in the study, some of which are potentially important and should be kept in mind when interpreting their findings.
For example, they point that the study’s conclusions are based on the experiences of a group of casual employees with fairly short job tenures, who may have responded differently to JobKeeper than other groups of workers.
They also noted that the study assumed that JobKeeper did not have a material effect on those people who did not receive the payment.
About the author
About the author
Economy
Australia’s exports rise to fourth-largest on record
The high price of iron ore has offset Chinese sanctions, with Australia recording its fourth-largest trade surplus on record, official figures have revealed. ...Read more
Economy
Coalition commits to climate resilience as new report bares shocking cost of inaction
Australia has announced that it is joining 118 countries in signing two global initiatives to plan for the risks associated with climate change, as a new report reveals the cost of extreme weather i...Read more
Economy
How CSIRO plans to turn landfills into a billion-dollar industry, tripling jobs
Australia’s national science agency is saving plastics, glass, paper and tyres from landfills and turning them into a billion-dollar industry that is set to triple in job creation, an official state...Read more
Economy
COVID consequences ‘will come home to roost’
Markets are enjoying an easy ride despite the economic damage wrought by COVID-19, but “there will be a reckoning”. ...Read more
Economy
Global economy predicted to pause before soaring in 2021
2021 will provide investors the opportunity to cash in on private markets and businesses hurt, but not permanently damaged, by the pandemic as accommodating policies and pent-up demand drive global gr...Read more
Economy
5 predictions for the Australian economy in 2021
The Australian economy is tipped to be one of five nations to outshine, with a win on the health front likely to act as tailwind, a new report has revealed. ...Read more
Economy
Deloitte calls vaccine a ‘game changer’ as 77% of Aussies welcome jab
As many as three-quarters of Aussies are willing to be vaccinated once a new coronavirus vaccine becomes publicly available, new research has revealed, as Deloitte Access Economics calls the vaccine ...Read more
Economy
Markets react to Biden’s stimulus package
The US markets have reacted negatively to President-elect Joe Biden’s US$1.9 trillion ($2.44 trillion) bailout proposal, amid mass job losses as the US continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandem...Read more
Economy
Australia’s exports rise to fourth-largest on record
The high price of iron ore has offset Chinese sanctions, with Australia recording its fourth-largest trade surplus on record, official figures have revealed. ...Read more
Economy
Coalition commits to climate resilience as new report bares shocking cost of inaction
Australia has announced that it is joining 118 countries in signing two global initiatives to plan for the risks associated with climate change, as a new report reveals the cost of extreme weather i...Read more
Economy
How CSIRO plans to turn landfills into a billion-dollar industry, tripling jobs
Australia’s national science agency is saving plastics, glass, paper and tyres from landfills and turning them into a billion-dollar industry that is set to triple in job creation, an official state...Read more
Economy
COVID consequences ‘will come home to roost’
Markets are enjoying an easy ride despite the economic damage wrought by COVID-19, but “there will be a reckoning”. ...Read more
Economy
Global economy predicted to pause before soaring in 2021
2021 will provide investors the opportunity to cash in on private markets and businesses hurt, but not permanently damaged, by the pandemic as accommodating policies and pent-up demand drive global gr...Read more
Economy
5 predictions for the Australian economy in 2021
The Australian economy is tipped to be one of five nations to outshine, with a win on the health front likely to act as tailwind, a new report has revealed. ...Read more
Economy
Deloitte calls vaccine a ‘game changer’ as 77% of Aussies welcome jab
As many as three-quarters of Aussies are willing to be vaccinated once a new coronavirus vaccine becomes publicly available, new research has revealed, as Deloitte Access Economics calls the vaccine ...Read more
Economy
Markets react to Biden’s stimulus package
The US markets have reacted negatively to President-elect Joe Biden’s US$1.9 trillion ($2.44 trillion) bailout proposal, amid mass job losses as the US continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandem...Read more
More articles
Website Notifications
Get notifications in real-time for staying up to date with content that matters to you.
